Feds Invest Big Into Nuclear Energy — “Holy Grail” Solution
(TargetLiberty.org) – The federal government plans to give millions of dollars to private companies for nuclear fusion research. The Biden Administration sees this as part of its green agenda — but if the research pays off, it could mean almost unlimited clean electricity.
Feds commit $50 million to for-profit nuclear fusion companies, chasing the 'holy grail' of clean energy https://t.co/svpxq831tK
— CNBC (@CNBC) September 26, 2022
On September 22, the Department of Energy announced it’s investing $50 million in nuclear fusion research by for-profit companies. The federal government is already spending around $700 million a year on fusion research, but so far it’s all gone to government-owned labs or universities; this is the first time profit-making businesses have been funded.
Using nuclear fusion to generate electricity has been a goal of scientists for decades. Existing nuclear power stations use nuclear fission to generate heat, which is then used to boil water into steam which powers turbines to generate electricity. The problem is that fusion uses expensive, highly radioactive fuels, and creates even more highly radioactive waste that becomes a disposal/storage problem.
On the other hand, if fusion uses hydrogen as fuel, there’s very little waste and it does not require special disposal. Scientists have already achieved fusion reactions, but so far more energy is going in than comes out. If they can improve the technology, so there’s a significant net gain in energy, the result would be fusion reactors that would become a reality, giving us cheap energy fueled by hydrogen — the most common element in the universe.
The Biden administration hopes fusion power will salvage their green agenda. Note that the bill authorizing funding for private companies was passed in 2020, under the Trump administration.
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